EDIT 02-Mar-2017: One of my players provided me with some additional notes and considerable corrections so I have revised the write up for this session. The original text I posted appears at the end.
I also used this situation in a previous post as the basis for a free H+I Adventure.
Chapter
5: The Novice
Father Signoret reflected on the meeting
he’d had with the Provincial Father, or Cellotius as the scholarly Jesuit
preferred to be called. His latest mission sounded straightforward enough.
Escort a young noblewoman to the Convent of
the Blessed Heart, a closed convent two days ride from Paris, where she can
be lodged for safekeeping. Her dying father, the Baron Deville, was aligned
with the Guise clan and a long time friend to the Jesuit Order. The Baron had
requested that the Jesuit Order arrange for the girl to be safely conducted to
the convent where she is to become a novice. But if this was as simple as it sounds, would the Provincial Father
have assigned it to me, he wondered. To
be on the safe side, I’ll see if my cousin is available to lend his advice and
perhaps accompany me.
Guy, as it turned out, was at his
favorite restaurant, Le Bec Doré, but
Guy was not alone.[i]
With him were two expensively and stylishly dressed courtiers. The stunningly
handsome courtier was already known to the Father, though the second man was
not. Why is Guy with the Seigneur de
Chambré? Well…no matter, de Chambré was handy enough in Gaston’s recent
business with the Baron de Villemorin perhaps he will agree to accompany me as
well…and if there is trouble, three swords are better than two. Now I’d best find out who the other man is.
The second man was Renaus de Jouvin
Baron de Pleurissy, a very well connected noble at court who was acquainted
with both Guy and de Chambré. After hearing of Father Signoret’s mission, the
other three gentlemen professed their willingness to accompany the Jesuit. The
four went to a Paris Town House where Signoret was to meet the young lady.
There they learned that the girl’s mother Mme Deville was emotionally
distraught, overwhelmed at the thought of losing her husband she just wanted
her daughter kept away from unnamed “bad influences at court” and from people
who she believed “may have designs on my innocent young daughter.” The family
was visiting Paris when the father fell very ill.
While in Paris the maiden, Louise
Deville, was relentlessly pursued by Adrian Chenevier the Chevalier de
Branville. Father Signoret and Guy have clashed with the Chevalier in the past
and he has a reputation as an infamous seducer of women. To date, with the
support or her father, the maiden has rebuffed the Chevalier’s efforts. With
her father’s death, the situation may change—which may explain the family’s
sudden desire to place their daughter in a convent.
In fact unknown to the Devilles,
Branville who was frustrated at being thwarted, planned to take direct action.
With the help of his sycophantic friends and hangers-on and a band of hired
bravos, he intended to carry the maiden off to a cozy little love nest
somewhere outside of the city that he had prepared for her seduction.
While the young lady’s luggage was
brought down and the gentlemen finalized their travel arrangements, Guy’s valet
Fabré brought him a letter which had been delivered while Guy was out. The
letter was closed with sealing wax, but without any seal.[ii]
Your cousin the Jesuit’s life is in
danger. If you value his life, then convince him to let someone else escort the
girl.
One who is in
your debt
Both the Baron de Pleurissy and the
Seigneur de Chambré brought their coaches and the first order of business was
determining in whose coach the lady would ride. The Baron de Pleurissy won the
first engagement, but this led to a more-or-less friendly rivalry between the
two gentlemen for the lady’s attentions which continued throughout the journey.
The heroes soon discovered that Louise
Deville, the novice-to-be, was a spoiled young noblewoman unused to travel. She
complained of even the most minor rigors of travel: the dust, the heat, the
cold, the rain, the mud, the many bumps and potholes in the road, and, of
course, the lamentable state of springs on the Baron’s coach. To alleviate her
trials she insisted on stopping to rest, wash, refresh herself, pray at every
religious shrine along the way, and drink a restorative glass of fine wine at
every likely looking inn. As a result a short two-day ride soon lengthened to a
long three day journey.
On the second day the wheel on one of
the coaches became loose. Father Signoret volunteered his servant Claude to fix
the wheel, but Claude’s attempt broke the wheel. Fortunately there was an inn a
short distance away where they could get a new wheel. The inn where they
stopped was graced with a group of strolling players. At first the sounds of
music entertained the travelers. But after a few songs the musicians began to
argue over the ownership of a musical composition and while all playing stopped
the argument grew louder. De Pleurissy mockingly suggested that de Chambré
should exert his persuasive abilities to quiet the loudly arguing musicians,
but de Chambré refused. So the Baron decided to resolve matters himself. He
purchased the piece in dispute from the two musicians paying each of them
equally and handsomely with an additional payment for them to play a courtly
dance. Taking advantage of the music that he had obtained, he asked Louise
Deville to be his partner. As they danced together, de Pleurissy smiled in
triumph at de Chambré.
Once the wheel had been replaced they
sent out again but because of the delay with the coach wheel the party were
unable to find an inn to stop for the night. Instead they had to camp outside
much to the consternation of the two elegant courtiers and the young lady. They
stopped well before dark to prepare their camp. While the servants began
setting up camp de Chambré and de Pleurissy debated who should have the
privilege of giving up their coach to Louise for the night. Their discussion
was interrupted by a band of gypsies in two colorful wagons who stopped to look
for a campsite. Guy invited the Travelers to stay so that he could keep an eye
on them.
Guy’s valet Fabré took the opportunity
to discuss herbal remedies with the gypsies. In the process he told them about
the wonderful, beautiful, talented gypsy dancer, Morgiana, who he had seen
perform in Paris. His enchantment the dancer was plain to all. The gypsy band
seemed equally enchanted with Fabré. The band’s wise woman presented him with a
handful of seeds that she said were for a rare healing herb and a gypsy
blessing. Fortunately Father Signoret missed the gifts. The gypsies were
traveling towards Paris and they warned the party that they had passed a large
party of rough looking travelers mounted on horses.
The next day was Sunday and it was
raining. Father Signoret celebrated the Mass and the party learned that de
Pleurrisy was a Huguenot not a Catholic. Father Signoret’s sermon at Mass
warned against the dangers of heresy. Perhaps it was for that reason that
Louise insisted that they stop to pray at every rain soaked roadside shrine
that they passed. The group finally reached an inn about four o’clock in the
afternoon. Guy wanted to push on to the convent despite the rain, but he was
outvoted by the lady and the two courtiers. Their dislike of traveling through
the countryside or what they described as “this flooded wilderness” was one of
the few things on which the two gentlemen could seem to agree.
Guy sent Fabré into the inn to arrange
for their rooms while he and Father Signoret went to the stables to see that
the horses were well cared for. Meanwhile the Seigneur de Chambré and the Baron
de Pleurissy each took an arm of the Lady Louise to escort her into the inn.
The common room was full of travelers who had stopped there to avoid the rain.
As the two elegant rivals were arranging for a table for Louise, an unknown
gentleman came over to their table. He asked to join them. Though de
Pleurissy’s was polite, the gentleman took umbrage at his refusal and responded
by insulting the Baron. Of course this led to a duel between the two. Tables
were moved and a space cleared. The setup took longer than the duel itself
which was quickly ended when the gentlemen was killed by the lightning fast
attacks of the Baron de Pleurissy.[iii]
Guy and Father Signoret ran across the
rain swept courtyard and entered the dimly lit stable where they encountered
five masked men. Without ceremony or warning Signoret readied his pistol and
shot one of the men. The other four drew their swords as did the two cousins.
It was a confused fight. Signoret’s shot had startled the horses and they began
to rear and plunge and to kick and fuss inside their stalls. One of the masked
men tried to climb onto the wall of one stall to flank Guy, but he lost his
footing and fell inside the stall where he was trampled by the horse inside.
Another horse lunged towards the exit in a panic. It knocked Guy to the stable
floor then galloped out into the rain. Guy quickly regained his feet and
engaged a well-dressed masked man who held a sword in one hand and a hanky in
the other.
Signoret threatened man he had shot, who
quickly surrendered. Then he turned to engage the remaining two men. These two
were dressed in rougher garb than the others. The Jesuit killed one man and
disarmed the other who fled the stables with the priest in pursuit. The man Guy
was engaged with called after him. Guy realized the voice sounded familiar, but
it was the distinctive manner in which he had waved his scented silk
handkerchief as if to fan the stable air away from his delicate nose that
identified him for certain. He was Jean-Jacques de Vignon, a supporter of the
Chevalier de Branville. Guy and de Branville were long time rivals and sometime
enemies.
Vignon suggested that they should halt
their quarrel so that he could see to his two friends—one who had been trampled
and the other who had been shot. Guy insisted that Vignon give his parole and
agree not to engage with them further. Vignon agreed. Guy left him to see to
his two friends though before leaving the stable, Guy put on the hat and mask
of the man that Signoret had shot. Disguised as one of the masked me, he
readied his pistol crossed the inn yard.
As he reached the inn he saw a man
backing out the front door rapier in hand. Guy tried to knock him on the head
with the butt of his pistol, but the man turned just as Guy was about to
strike. The blow missed, but Guy’s shove dumped the man into the horse trough
by the door. A quick glance inside showed Guy that Louise was safe, guarded by
both de Pleurrisy and de Chambré. Guy heard noise from behind the inn.
Carefully he sneaked around the side. In the rear he saw Signoret struggling
with a man on horseback who used his mount to knock the Jesuit aside then
galloped away.
Signoret set out in pursuit. He ran towards
the stable to find a mount. On the way back into the stables he had to pass the
gentlemen who had surrendered to Guy and himself. Although they didn’t attack
him, they took their time moving from his path which delayed him from entering
the stables. In a hurry, Signoret grabbed the first saddled horse that he found
and galloped off towards the sound of receding hoof beats. The Jesuit was a
superior horseman and he soon caught up to a rider who was galloping away from
the inn. Signoret threatened the man with a second, loaded pistol and called on
him to stop. Somewhat to the Jesuit’s surprise he did.
The man was not wearing a mask though he
did have his collar turned up against the rain. He revealed that he was the
Chevalier de Branville and he politely asserted in response to the Jesuit’s
accusation that he had no knowledge of any attempted kidnapping. He then
demanded that Signoret provide his name, but the Jesuit refused. Branville
slapped his gloves in one hand and said “Well, well. The horse at least I do
recognize and you Monsieur No-name are not its owner. I am afraid I must insist
that you surrender to me on the twin charges of threatening a gentleman with
murder on the King’s Highway and with highway robbery.” Signoret refused to
surrender, but while they were conversing two other horsemen arrived. They were
mounted, but not masked. Branville repeated his charges and his demand for the
Jesuit’s name. He pointed to the horse that Signoret rode, which was not in
fact his own, as proof of the charge of robbery and charged that Signoret had
threatened to assassinate him with a pistol. He demanded that the two
“travelers” help him to apprehend the criminal.
The two men identified themselves—one
was the previously mentioned Monsieur Vignon, the other, who was wounded, was a
Monsieur Vincent Graucher. Signoret recognized both names as that of associates
of de Branville and he suspected that they had been involved in the melee at
the inn. The two recognized Signoret by sight even though he did not give his
name. Although they were allies of de Branville the two gentlemen were
reluctant to take action against Signoret as that might be considered
dishonorable after their defeat or surrender. As an attempted compromise Vignon
suggested they should all go in front of a magistrate to settle the matter, but
Signoret, who feared some sort of trap, refused to do that either. Signoret
realized that he couldn’t shoot Branville in front of witnesses and Branveill,
faced by Signoret’s loaded pistol and without clear support from his usual
allies, realized that he was forced to allow Signoret to depart. Thus the
gentlemen went their separate ways.
Signoret returned to the inn where he
was reunited with the others. He left his borrowed horse in the stable. The
next day the party traveled by coach straight to the Convent of the Blessed
Heart where they left Louise Deville in the care of the sisters.
Once they returned to Paris, the
Chevalier de Branville filed charges for attempted murder against Father
Signoret for his attack on the King’s Highway. Vignon, who had surrendered to
Guy, agreed to testify against Father Signoret while Graucher, who had
surrendered to Father Signoret, refused. In response to Branville’s allegation
the heroes made a counter claim against Branville for the attempted kidnapping
of Louise Deville. However in the end, the powerful Guise family wanted the
matter hushed up so the Devilles, who were clients of the Guise, refused to
support a kidnapping charge and the Jesuit Order managed to insure that the
murder charge did not proceed.
As a result of the incident, Monsieurs
Vignon and Graucher became annoyed with the Chevalier de Branville due to the
honor conflict he had forced upon them by trying to compel them to help arrest
Signoret on a charge of robbery and attempted murder. They had refused due to
their oaths of surrender. The two men also blamed Father Signoret for putting
them in a conflict with their patron by his stubborn refusal to go before a
Magistrate and contest the charges or even to give them his name or parole like
a gentleman. Thus he had forced them into a position of either violating their
words of honor in their surrender or becoming complicit in the Jesuit’s escape
from justice. They also blamed Branville for not being more understanding and
for insisting they aid him despite their surrenders and his verbal abuse of
them in front of the Jesuit. As a result, both gentlemen withdrew from his
clientele. They soon found a new patron among the clients of the Prince de
Condé. Vignon managed a promotion in status as the chamberlain of the Comte
d’Anglure. Graucher became a member of the Count’s clientele where he could
frequently be seen paying court to the Comte’s beautiful sister Dominique de
Braux.
originally posted version
Father Signoret reflected on the meeting
he’d had with the Provincial Father, or Cellotius as the scholarly Jesuit
preferred to be called. His latest mission sounded straightforward enough.
Escort a young noblewoman to the Convent
of the Blessed Heart, a closed convent two days ride from Paris, where she
can be lodged for safekeeping. Her dying father, the Baron Deville, was aligned
with the Guise clan and a long time friend to the Jesuit Order. The Baron had
requested that the Jesuit Order arrange for the girl to be safely conducted to the
convent where she is to become a novice. But
if this was as simple as it sounds, would the Provincial Father have assigned
it to me, he wondered. To be on the
safe side, I’ll see if my cousin is available to lend his advice and perhaps
accompany me.
Guy, as it turned out, was at his
favorite restaurant, Le Bec Doré, but
Guy was not alone.[i]
With him were two expensively and stylishly dressed courtiers. The stunningly
handsome courtier was already known to the Father, though the second man was
not. Why is Guy with the Seigneur de
Chambré? Well…no matter, de Chambré was handy enough in Gaston’s recent
business with the Baron de Villemorin perhaps he will agree to accompany me as
well…and if there is trouble, three swords are better than two. Now I’d best find out who the other man is.
The second man was Renaus de Jouvin
Baron de Pleurissy, a very well connected noble at court who was acquainted
with both Guy and de Chambré. After hearing of Father Signoret’s mission, the
other three gentlemen professed their willingness to accompany the Jesuit. The
four went to a Paris Town House where Signoret was to meet the young lady.
There they learned that the girl’s mother Mme Deville was emotionally
distraught, overwhelmed at the thought of losing her husband she just wanted
her daughter kept away from unnamed “bad influences at court” and from people
who she believed “may have designs on my innocent young daughter.” The family
was visiting Paris when the father fell very ill.
While
in Paris the maiden, Louise Deville, was relentlessly pursued by Adrian
Chenevier the Chevalier de Branville. Father Signoret and Guy have clashed with
the Chevalier in the past and he has a reputation as an infamous seducer of
women. To date, with the support or her father, the maiden has rebuffed the
Chevalier’s efforts. With her father’s death, the situation may change—which
may explain the family’s sudden desire to place their daughter in a convent.
In
fact unknown to the Devilles, Branville who was frustrated at being thwarted,
planned to take direct action. With the help of his sycophantic friends and
hangers-on and a band of hired bravos, he intended to carry the maiden off to a
cozy little love nest somewhere outside of the city that he had prepared for
her seduction.
While the young lady’s luggage was
brought down and the gentlemen finalized their travel arrangements, Guy’s valet
Fabré brought him a letter which had been delivered while Guy was out. The
letter was closed with sealing wax, but without any seal.[ii]
Your cousin the Jesuit’s life is in
danger. If you value his life, then convince him to let someone else escort the
girl.
One who is in
your debt
Both the Baron de Pleurissy and the Seigneur
de Chambré brought their coaches and the first order of business was
determining in whose coach the lady would ride. The Baron de Pleurissy won the
first engagement, but this led to a more-or-less friendly rivalry for the
ladies attentions between the two gentlemen which continued throughout the
journey.
The heroes soon discovered that Louise
Deville, the novice-to-be, was a spoiled young noblewoman unused to travel. She
complained of even the most minor rigors of travel: the dust, the heat, the cold,
the rain, the mud, the many bumps and potholes in the road, and, of course, the
lamentable state of springs on the Baron’s coach. To alleviate her trials she
insisted on stopping to stop to rest, wash, refresh herself, pray at every
religious shrine along the way, and drink a restorative glass of fine wine at
every likely looking inn. As a result their short two-day ride soon lengthened
to a long three day journey.
One of the inns where they stopped for
the night was graced with a group of strolling players. At first the music
entertained the travelers. But after a few songs the musicians began to argue
over the ownership of a musical composition and while all playing stopped the
argument grew louder. De Pleurissy mockingly suggested that de Chambré should
exert his persuasive abilities to quiet the loudly arguing musicians, but de
Chambré refused. So the Baron decided to resolve matters himself. He purchased
the piece in dispute from the two musicians paying each of them equally and
handsomely with an additional payment for them to play a courtly dance. Then
taking advantage of the music that he had obtained, he asked Louise Deville. As
they danced together, de Pleurissy smiled in triumph at de Chambré.
The next day they set out to reach the
convent, which Guy said they should reach that day. Near lunch time the party
stopped at a roadside inn to rest the horses and to get a bit to eat and drink
before finishing their journey. But at the inn they were attacked by a band of
more than a dozen masked bandits. During the melee they discovered that some of
the bandits were gentlemen in disguise.
One of the gentlemen, Herbert Bellou was
killed by lightning fast attacks of the Baron de Pleurissy.[iii]
Another gentleman, Jean-Jacques de Vignon, surrendered to Guy. While a third,
Vincent Graucher was shot and wounded by Father Signoret and then surrendered
to the priest. Several other gentlemen bandits escaped on horseback.
Father Signoret’s horse had been put
away in a stall so he quickly mounted one of the saddled horses that stood
waiting in the stable and set off after the sound of hoof beats. On the way he
had to pass the two gentlemen who had surrendered to Guy and himself. Although
they didn’t attack him, Vignon and Graucher took their time moving from his path
which had the effect of forcing the priest to slow down as he passed. Despite
this he was able to catch up to one horseman whose horse had pulled up lame.
The Jesuit called on the man to stop and threatened him with a second, loaded
pistol. To his surprise the man did stop.
He then revealed that he was the
Chevalier de Branville, he politely claimed to have no knowledge of any
attempted kidnapping, and he demanded Signoret’s name. When the Jesuit refused
to give it, Branville slapped his gloves in his hand and said “Well, well. I am
afraid I must insist that you, Monsieur, surrender to me on the charges of
threatening a gentleman with murder on the King’s Highway and with highway
robbery.” Signoret refused, but while they were conversing Vignon and Graucher
arrived. Branville repeated his charges and his demand for the Jesuit’s name
and he pointed to the horse that Signoret was riding which was not his own and
that Signoret had threatened him at gunpoint. Signoret continued to refuse to
give his name. Vignon and Graucher, due to their oaths of surrender, were
reluctant to take action against Signoret. Vignon suggested they should all go
in front of a magistrate to settle the matter, but Signoret, who feared some
sort of trap, refused to comply. In the end Signoret and the gentlemen went
their separate ways and he and the other heroes delivered Louise Deville to the
convent.
Once they returned to Paris, Branville
filed a charge of attempted murder against Father Signoret for his attack on
the King’s Highway. Vignon, who had surrendered to Guy, agreed to testify
against Father Signoret while Graucher, who had surrendered to Father Signoret,
refused. In response to Branville’s allegation the heroes made a claim against
Branville for the attempted kidnapping of Louise Deville. However the powerful
Guise family wanted the matter hushed up so the Devilles, who were clients of
the Guise, refused to support a kidnapping charge.
As a result of the events, Vignon and
Graucher were annoyed with Branville due to the honor conflict he had forced on
them by trying to compel them to help arrest Signoret on a charge of attempted
robbery and murder. They had refused due to their oaths of surrender. The two
also blamed Father Signoret for putting them in a conflict with their patron by
his stubborn refusal to go before a Magistrate and contest the charges or to
give them his name or parole, effectively forcing them to either violate their
words of honor in their surrender or make themselves complicit in the Jesuit’s
escape from justice. And they blamed Branville for not being more understanding
and for insisting they aid him despite their surrenders and his verbal abuse of
them in front of others. As a result, both withdrew from positions in his
clientele and joined that of an adherent of the Prince de Condé. Vignon was
promoted to the position of chamberlain for Abelin de Braux Count d’Anglure
while Graucher became part of the Count’s clientele where he could frequently
be seen paying court to the Comte’s sister Dominique.
[i]
How was de Pleurissy introduced? For now, assume he was dining with Guy and
de Chambré at the restaurant.
[ii]
The note was (probably) from Peyrafon who is in Guy’s debt. Literally. During
the Diplomatic Mission to the Netherlands Guy bought up gambling markers.
[iii]
Quickcut with a Mighty Success.
